It's a bit of an odd matchup for Souza (23-4), who is 6-1 in the UFC and knocking on the door for title contention. He was scheduled to fight former champion Luke Rockhold in a five-round main event in November, but the bout fell through when Rockhold suffered a knee injury.

A former Strikeforce champion, Souza has been gunning for a title shot since he joined the UFC in 2013. His only loss came via split decision to Yoel Romero in December 2015.

Boetsch (20-10) is on a two-fight win streak, but he was arguably fighting for his job as recently as last year. The 35-year-old hit a 1-4 skid between 2014 and 2016, and he was knocked out in back-to-back contests by Dan Henderson and Ed Herman. He has since beat Josh Samman and Rafael Natal.

An inaugural female featherweight title fight between Holly Holm (10-2) and Germaine de Randamie (6-3) is scheduled to headline the pay-per-view event at Barclays Center.